Backyard Beginnings
by Shabon Flurry
Summary: My version of how the quintet we all know and love came to be what it is today. No flames.
1. How It All Began

You know the Backyardigans… right?

Well, you should know that the ones you see on TV, happily dancing and prancing around the screen, aren't really the first Backyardigans. No, the story of the Backyardigans began a long time ago, before the current ones were even born. The first generation was initially comprised of two childhood friends, Gary and Aileen, who used to play daily at a patch of weed near their houses. However, the imagination only kicked its way into their games with the arrival of Melody, a joyful… ummm… something. Actually, neither Gary nor Aileen knew what was Melody's species anyways: she had spots all over her body and a pair of antennae ending in curls on top of her head. Though they were puzzled at first, they eventually became used to Melody's wide imagination and she quickly became part of their group, even giving it a nickname: **Backyard Apostles of Imagination**.

The three had a lot of exciting adventures until one day when Gary announced he would be moving to Ohio because his parents got back together. After his departure, playing became a lot harder: without him as the mediator, Aileen and Melody's arguements never seemed to end, and their games rarely took any direction. Finally, they decided to break up the group, seeing that without Gary they would be better off alone. However, to keep the good times on her memory, Melody wrote with permanent marker the words 'Backyard 4ever' on a picture of her with Aileen and Gary, and placed it deep in her closet.

The years past. Melody moved with her family to Toronto, Canada, and met a young man who was of the same unknown species as her. They got married and had children, and later, their children had children of their own. One day, Melody's youngest granddaughter, Ulrika, found the picture with 'Backyard 4ever' written on it, and asked Melody about it. Melody told her the whole story, and inspired on that, Ulrika decided to form her own Backyard Apostles of Imagination trio with her best friends Paula the penguin and Allen the alligator. A few days after the group's formation, two new members arrived: Paula's neighbor Tristan the moose and his best friend, Thaddeus the hippo.

The new group had some wonderful adventures, but one day a tragic event surfaced: Ulrika noticed that Allen was more and more absent from the games, and called him through the phone, only for him to answer that he was missing, not because of his naturally shy personality, but because he was recently diagnosticated as being HIV positive. Allen fought as much as he could to stay alive and be able to play once again with his backyard friends, but it was hopeless: he died two weeks after Ulrika's phone call. The four remaining Backyard Apostles of Imagination were present at his funeral, and Paula placed his Yeti hat from the last time they played together on his tomb. Due to Allen's sudden death, the four decided to split up, and it didn't take long until Ulrika moved away to Texas with her parents. To keep the good memories alive for long, Tristan took a picture of the five of them back when Allen was alive and wrote, with light blue permanent marker, the words 'Backyard 4ever' on the front and a message on the back:

_If you're as young as my friends and I were on this picture, keep on with the backyard tradition. I'm counting on you._

Tristan placed the picture inside a music box, hoping that one day someone would find it and have the same kind of fun he used to have. He grew up, met a young moose girl and they got married around the same time Paula met a penguin boy who shared the same likes as her. Soon enough, Tristan, Paula and Thaddeus were all married and expecting. Tristan's son Tyrone was the first to be born, later followed by Thaddeus' lovely daughter Tasha. Finally, the egg laid by Paula hatched into a healthy little male penguin that she named after her deceased uncle, Pablo.

That's where our story truly begins.


	2. I'm Counting on You

It was an ordinary evening at a neighborhood in Toronto. A moose named Tristan arrived from work, before being welcomed back by his wife Cecilia and his son Tyrone. For some reason, that day Tristan decided to go to the backyard of his house and lay down on the grass to stargaze. As he stared at the starry sky, he reminisced the days of the Backyard Apostles of Imagination before his friend Allen passed away. He remembered their laughter as they headed to Ulrika's house for a snack after a very fun game.

Tristan glanced to his side as he saw Tyrone kick his ball around the backyard, laughing and obviously enjoying himself. That was when Tristan realized something: his son was around the same age he was when he joined the Backyard Apostles of Imagination. Thinking about that possibility for two seconds, Tristan stood up and approached his son.

"Uh, Tyrone…" he said.

Tyrone picked up his ball as he faced his father with a smile. "What, dad?" he asked him raising an eyebrow.

Tristan just took his son's hand in his own. "Let me show you something, Ty. C'mon." he led Tyrone inside the orange house they lived in, and all the way into the room Tristan slept at with his wife. There, he showed Tyrone the photo of him as a little kid with the other Backyard Apostles of Imagination.

"Who are those kids?" asked Tyrone in confusion.

His father just giggled silently in response. "That little moose on the center is me when I was little. The penguin is Pablo's mom Paula, the hippo is Tasha's dad Thaddeus, and the other two…" Tristan sighed sadly, remembering the events that led to the separation.

Tyrone just stared at his father in worry. "Dad? What's the matter?" he wondered, tilting his head slightly to the left.

"Nothing, Ty. I was just upset." Tristan said, finally finishing his explanation, "These were just some old friends you probably heard about before. We used to be in a group called the Backyard Apostles of Imagination, and I felt like passing the baton to you." He gripped his son's hand as he added, "I would be really proud if you formed a new Backyard Apostles of Imagination group based off my personal experiences."

A small smile was formed on Tyrone's lips. "Can you tell me more about them?" he asked in interested.

Tristan chuckled as he took his son on his arms and placed him on his lap. "If that's what you want, than that's what I'll give you." he said gladly, and spent the rest of the night telling Tyrone stories of when he was a Backyard Apostle of Imagination, up until the last game they had before Allen's funeral. When he reached that part, he noticed Tyrone was already asleep, and placed him safely on his bed before bidding him goodnight.

* * *

The next morning, Tyrone decided to tell Pablo and Tasha about his recent discovery about his father's past. Not too long after he was done, Pablo stood up and raised his arms in excitement. "So that means we're gonna be playing together every single day?" the blue penguin asked, "Cool! Count me in!"

Tasha just crossed her arms in annoyance. "Oh, for goodness' sakes! Why would I want to play here everyday?" she groaned, "I don't want to get my dress dirty, you know."

Tyrone grinned and rolled his eyes in response. He's been Tasha's friend since he could remember, and he knew her mother Farrah was from England and behaved like a real lady, so Tasha herself was very prim and proper to begin with. She was always bothered about her looks and people's manners, so naturally, she would be concerned about playing in that large shared backyard all the time.

However, Pablo just grinned and pulled Tasha up against. "Oh, c'mon! Won't it be nice to be close to your friends everyday?" the penguin asked, rubbing his palms together, "Plus, if what Tyrone said was right, you'll enjoy it so much you won't even bother about your dress being dirty!"

The hippo just crossed her arms as she turned away from the boys, still reluctant. "So… What are we going to play first?" Pablo asked looking in expectation at Tyrone. Tyrone just looked up at the sky thoughtfully, remaining silent for a moment. "I certainly have no idea." the moose replied with a shrug.

"See?" Tasha told them, walking away from them, "You two have barely begun and you can't even think of a good thematic. I told you this was going to be a bad idea. I'm going home."

Pablo and Tyrone only watched as Tasha left the backyard through the fence that led to the frontyard. After she left, Tyrone sighed sadly as he stared at Pablo. "Guess we're gonna have to start this later." the moose said, shaking his head as he placed his hands in his nonexistant pockets.

"**NOOOOO!**" Pablo yelled as he started running in circles, freaking out, "We can't start this later! We can't! We just started! Oh boy! Oh boy!"

Tyrone tried to calm him down. "Pablo…?"

"This is no time to panic! Let's try thinking of a theme! Any theme! Anything! We can't start this later!"

"Pablo?"

"Oh boy, we must think of something! Quick! We have to bring Tasha back to get this started! Oh dear! Oh dear!"

Tyrone finally lost it. "PABLO!"

With this, Pablo finally stopped panicking. "Yea?" he asked calmly. Tyrone was actually expecting this to happen; everytime they came across a difficult situation, Pablo would freak out and run in circles saying nonsense, and the only way to get him out of it was to say his name three times. He was very tightly-wound, after all.

"Let's just play ball, shall we?" asked Tyrone.

Pablo then nodded in agreedment. "Good! Where's your ball, Tyrone?" he wondered, looking around.

His moose friend just walked to the door of his home in response. "Maybe I left it in my bedroom. I'll go get it…" he said, entering the house and passing the kitchen, where his mother was making some pancakes for the snack.

Noticing her son's sudden entrance, Cecilia turned to face him with a smile. "Oh, Ty!" she told him, "I have some news. The lady from the pink house moved yesterday, and I heard the house was sold by a family from Texas. Maybe they might even have a child of their own!"

Tyrone stopped in his tracks and took a few steps back until he was facing his mother. "Really?" he asked.

Cecilia nodded, placing the pancakes on a plate and pouring maple syrup over it. "If that's true, then you might have a new friend to play with." she added, giving the plate to Tyrone along with a fork and a knife, "Here, have some pancakes. Serve yourself."

Tyrone rolled his eyes as he sat down on the table and cutting the first pancake to eat it. Pablo then walked in, tired of waiting for the ball, as he noticed the pancakes. "Yum, pancakes!" he exclaimed, sitting down besides Tyrone, "Care to give me some, mrs. Tyrone's mom? With blueberries, if you have any?"

Cecilia giggled in response. "Sure, Pablo. I just have to check if I have any blueberries left…" she said, peeking in the refrigerator to check. As she did so, Tyrone told Pablo about the new family that would be probably moving to the pink house, piquing his interest greatly. The two then combined to tell it to Tasha later so the three of them would be able to greet the new neighbors together…


End file.
